Drug companies are working to develop a pure, more powerful version of the nation’s second most-abused medicine, which has addiction experts worried that it could spur a new wave of abuse. The new pills contain the highly addictive painkiller hydrocodone, packing up to 10 times the amount of the drug as existing medications such as Vicodin. Four companies have begun patient testing, and one of them — Zogenix of San Diego — plans to apply early next year to begin marketing its product, Zohydro. If approved, it would mark the first time patients could legally buy pure hydrocodone. Existing products combine the drug with nonaddictive painkillers such as acetaminophen. Critics say they are especially worried about Zohydro, a timed-release drug meant for managing moderate to severe pain, because abusers could crush it to release an intense, immediate high. “I have a big concern that this could be the next OxyContin,”

❑ Federal funding went to coffee enema study

A decade ago, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine helped fund a study with the National Cancer Institute of an arduous regimen for pancreatic cancer that is best known for frequent “detoxifying” coffee enemas. The research design pitted standard chemotherapy against a regimen developed by Nicholas Gonzalez, a New York City physician. In the study, volunteers on the Gonzalez protocol got coffee enemas twice a day. They also took dozens of supplements each day, including 69 to 81 capsules of pancreatic enzymes; maintained a strict diet; and engage in other “detoxifying” activities, such as “skin brushing.”

Imagine having the feeling that tiny bugs are crawling on your body, that you have oozing sores and mysterious fibers sprouting from your skin. Sound like a horror movie? Well, at one point several years ago, government doctors were getting up to 20 calls a day from people saying they had such symptoms. Many of these people were in California and one of that state’s U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein, asked for a scientific study. In 2008, federal health officials began to study people saying they were affected by this freakish condition called Morgellons. The study cost nearly $600,000. Its long-awaited results, released Wednesday, conclude that Morgellons exists only in the patients’ minds. “We found no infectious cause,” said Mark Eberhard, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who was part of the 15-member study team.

❑ Bonnie and Clyde guns bring $210,000 in Missouri auction

Two guns believed seized from gangsters Bonnie and Clyde in 1933 after a deadly Missouri shootout with police sold for a combined $210,000 at an auction on Saturday in Kansas City to an unnamed online bidder. The bidder paid $130,000 for a .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun, known as a “Tommy gun” in gangster slang. The same bidder paid $80,000 for an 1897 12-gauge Winchester shotgun.

One of our favorite subjects is the way marketers can use psychology to manipulate you into doing what they want (we don’t think “brainwashing” is too strong a word). We know what you’re thinking: You’re far too cynical to fall for the ads you fast forward through on your DVR or the little tricks employed by marketers and politicians to push your subconscious buttons. But are you sure? Because science has found …

Prosecutors say he got into an argument with his mother after she refused to call a friend to obtain skybox tickets for him to an upcoming Avril Lavigne concert. Lyons then hit Bolek with a cognac bottle, stabbed her repeatedly and poured chemicals like Tile-X, Drain-O and Rapid insecticide over her body. He was found several hours later at a Hooters restaurant.

Police arrested the driver of an SUV after he headed straight down a tunnel into the San Francisco subway system, causing massive delays during Thursday morning’s commute. Muni Metro spokesman Paul Rose told NBCBayArea. com in San Francisco the vehicle drove into a tunnel on Church Street shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday and headed east toward the Van Ness Station. The SUV stopped when it got stuck on the tracks, police said. Police say 40-year-old Scott Mitchell of Sebastopol, Calif., was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, failure to obey a stop sign and driving on train tracks.

The reason why is obvious: a 25kg plastic drum of benzocaine wholesales at £2750 from specialist suppliers, but one kilo of high purity cocaine powder – say 89% pure cocaine hydrochloride just off the boat from Colombia – sells at £50,000 in Scotland. So anyone cutting 1kg of coke worth £50,000 with 1kg of benzocaine worth £200 would get 2kg of half-strength product that gives a profit of about 60% on a single cut. Detective Sergeant Michael Miller, a drugs expert at Strathclyde Police, reckons cocaine is cut up to 15 times with benzocaine before it is finally sold in small plastic bags in pubs and clubs as £40 per gramme. Miller and colleagues at the Scottish Crime & Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) reckon the average purity of Scottish street level cocaine is now only 5%.

Man-made environmental catastrophes come in varying degrees of tragic, but none is as awful as when human action renders once-pristine land uninhabitable. It’s important to remember that while clean air, water and soil seemingly come for free, those resources require stewardship. Keeping that principle in mind, here’s our list of 10 places that have had to be abandoned because of environmental neglect.

Illicit drugs offer a high to adults and youth that comes with a dangerous price. Drugs like marijuana and cocaine cost people physically, mentally, and monetarily. When teens can’t monetarily afford drugs to give them a high, or are worried about using illicit drugs, sometimes they turn to getting their high from inhalants. These kids found that sniffing chemicals that are found in common products like household cleaners was an easy way to get their high. But one new study shows that it’s no longer just kids who are getting their high by “huffing.” A study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) revealed that more than half of the people who were admitted for treatment of inhalant abuse were 18 years and older. In the past year, 1.1 million adults used inhalants. In SAMHSA’s study, 52 percent of those admitted for inhalant abuse was aged 18 to 29, 32 percent were aged 30 to 44, and 16 percent were 45 and older.

A transient was arrested after police said he skinned and ate a cat while camping inside a Phoenix warehouse and music venue. Authorities say the building’s owners reported a burglary after they opened the warehouse Wednesday and heard blaring music. Police found 24-year-old Russell Christopher Hofstad inside with his face painted and the cat’s tail and intestines around his neck. Hunger claimed Hofstad told police he killed the cat because he was hungry. He also said he was going to use its skeleton as party decorations.

Authorities said Jeffrey P. LeBlanc, 31, of 18 Treadwell Drive, Spencer, told them he injected the child with the drug while babysitting for her on the afternoon of Oct. 21, 2010, because she had been ill the night before and he wanted to help her “feel better and relax.” He reportedly said he shot himself up with heroin first, then gave the girl a small amount of the drug.

Have you been dying to tell someone that their nose hairs gross you out? Do you find yourself facing them every day, unable to voice out your disgust? If your answer to these two questions is “yes” , Chololi is just the service for you. It allows anyone to email people anonymously, telling them that their pesky nostril hairs need to be trimmed soon. Originally launched in Japanese, the web service is now available for the English-speaking as well. To use it, all you need to do is go to their website and fill out a form. Provide the person’s name, e-mail address, the nostril through which the hair is visible, the number of hairs and you’re done! The message will be conveyed in secrecy. Just for kicks, you can even choose the tone with which the message is delivered. There’s mild, strong, commanding, and the nastiest of them all, scornful.

❑ Ohio wrestler gets 32 years in HIV assault case

A former professional wrestler was sentenced Monday to 32 years in prison for having sex with women without telling them he had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS. Andre Davis, 29, was sentenced in a Hamilton County court on 14 counts of felonious assault. Davis, who wrestled using stage names including Gangsta of Love and Sweet Sexy Sensation, was convicted in November. Prosecutors had said Davis violated state law by not telling a dozen sex partners about his HIV status or lying to them. Davis told the judge Monday that he was a “sex addict’’ and that his addiction grew worse when he lost his dream of becoming a professional wrestler after getting the HIV test results. He said sex addiction is probably the worst addiction anyone could have. “Drugs and alcohol are terrible, but sex is something everybody wants,’’ he said.

U.S. Custom and Border Protection agents say Michael Babatune Ayodele, 19, from Queens, N.Y. passed 55 thumb-sized pellets while being questioned during a secondary inspection. Ayodele arrived Jan. 16 aboard a flight from Nigeria via Kenya and Zurich, Switzerland. Customs officers detected inconsistencies with Ayodele’s story about allegedly visiting family in Nigeria. While being questioned, Ayodele asked to use the bathroom, which is where he passed the heroin-filled pellets. Officers took Ayodele to a local hospital where he passed an additional 31 pellets, also filled with heroin. The 86 pellets had a combined weight of 1,089 grams, or more than 2 pounds, 6 ounces, and an approximate street value of about $78,000.

This conceptual design titled the FleshliPad Holder, melds the Fleshlight device to a rubber housing for the Apple iPad (or alternative tablet) allowing the cumsumer to interactively reach self-gratification with various pre-recorded multimedia (photograph, video or animation) designed specifically for the tablet-penis interface. Thanks Baller

This man brings a whole new meaning to the mile “high” club. Adam Blumenkranz, a 42-year-old LA man, was arrested Monday for allegedly smoking pot mid-flight in a JetBlue airplane bathroom, KTLA reports. Flight attendants became suspicious when Blumenkranz dropped a clear plastic bag in the cabin, reports the Associated Press. When he emerged from the lavatory, a “strong smell of marijuana” emerged with him. The plane was flying from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to Newark, N.J. Police met Blumenkranz at the terminal gate in New Jersey and took him into custody, under charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance and drug paraphernalia. According to KTLA, Blumenkranz told police he believed he had done nothing illegal because he has a medical marijuana card.

In a very short period of time, an enigmatic singer named Lana Del Rey went from complete anonymity to the front page of magazines, not to mention intense internet buzz and an SNL appearance. But along with this (almost literal) overnight success came revelations regarding the rising star: She is a total creation of her record company – Interscope, the same as Lady Gaga. When her previous artist persona named Lizzie Grant became a monumental flop, she underwent intense retooling including: A new name (which was assigned to her by her label), plastic surgery, a new musical style, a new image and a new marketing strategy. The same way Stefani Germanotta was “revamped” to become Lady Gaga – a fake persona that fits the requirements of today’s music industry – Lizzie Grant was revamped as Lana Del Rey. Will this alter-persona be used to push the Illuminati agenda in the future?

Marine to serve no time in Iraqi killings case

A Marine sergeant who led a squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqis avoided serving any time Tuesday for his role in one of the darkest chapters of the Iraq war, winning leniency through a plea deal that carried no real punishment beyond a reduction in rank. Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones said he did not realize until after he recommended that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich serve three months in the brig that his hands were tied by a deal that prevented any jail time.

This picture was shared on Facebook through some of my friends. I am not going to go on and on about this topic. The picture is worth 1,000,000 words. Originally thought to have been shot in a fracking area, of PA, but the story has changed and other sources posted. ***EDIT: Now the story has gotten interesting, and has been changed and sources questioned. I removed the persons name and posted original sources. Apparently the deer was shot in Tenn too, now. This source seem much more credible and has a quote from the hunter.

A labyrinth of mysterious caves has been closed down after its owners finally got sick of them being invaded by a satanic cult. The Caynton Caves, hidden in dense woodland near Wolverhampton, have a rich history stemming back to the 17th century when they were apparently carved out of sandstone by followers of the Knights Templar. In the past, the landowners have tried to be accommodating when sects, good or evil, have asked permission to use the site.

A man who allegedly killed and ate a homeless person traveled to Lynn Haven where he was arrested, Lynn Haven police said Wednesday. Tyree Smith, 34, of Bridgeport, Conn., told a family member that he killed the victim with a hatchet, police wrote in a news release. Smith, who was covered in blood at the time, added that “after he bludgeoned the victim he took pieces of brain matter and his eye, which he consumed,” police said.

The Ministry of Defence turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public. A government report just released provides for the first time a comprehensive official history of Britain’s biological weapons trials between 1940 and 1979. Many of these tests involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swaths of the population without the public being told. While details of some secret trials have emerged in recent years, the 60-page report reveals new information about more than 100 covert experiments. The report reveals that military personnel were briefed to tell any ‘inquisitive inquirer’ the trials were part of research projects into weather and air pollution.

In a glowing review of the rising prevalence of high-tech big brother surveillance gadgets in police force use, the Associated Press reports that East Orange, New Jersey plans to cut crime by highlighting suspects with a red-beamed spotlight– before any crime is committed– a “pre-crime” deterrent to be mounted on nearby street lights or other fixtures.

The theft this week of radioactive material from a nuclear power plant under construction in Egypt has highlighted once again the dangers of nuclear looting in countries undergoing social upheaval. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that the material was taken from a laboratory at the El Dabaa nuclear power plant on the country’s Mediterranean coast. “According to the information we have, the items that have gone missing are low-level radioactive sources,” says an IAEA spokesperson.

They’re used in war zones for surveillance and military strikes. But are there plans to deploy drones in the Big Apple to keep an eye on New Yorkers? More and more people believe it’s inevitable, reports CBS 2’s Don Dahler. Drones are unmanned aircraft that can fly at low altitudes and shoot live video — or shoot live missiles. Surveillance cameras already dot the city’s streets, but is the NYPD exploring the use of even more eyes in the skies, in the form of drones? Some evidence points to yes. A website named Gay City News posted an e-mail it says it acquired through the Freedom of Information Act. It’s purportedly from a detective in the NYPD counterterrorism division, asking the Federal Aviation Administration about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as a law enforcement tool.

Optogenetics is a method of using light to control cells in the brain. It can be used to alter behavior, model diseases, and maybe even one day, deliver drugs right where you need them. And now, it’s wireless! With lasers! With genetic engineering, we can design cells that respond to light (from lasers or LEDs) by activating or deactivating themselves or otherwise changing their functionality. The appeal of using light to alter cells is that we can turn light on and off at the speed of, you know, light, which allows us to keep up with the speeds at which things happen inside our cells. For example, neurons in the brain send signals to other neurons using electric spikes that occur in just a few milliseconds, but with lasers, it’s possible to very precisely control (or disrupt) these messages, and this is what optogenetics is all about.

One in five Americans experienced some sort of mental illness in 2010, according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. About 5 percent of Americans have suffered from such severe mental illness that it interfered with day-to-day school, work or family. Women were more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness than men (23 percent of women versus 16.9 percent of men), and the rate of mental illness was more than twice as likely in young adults (18 to 25) than people older than 50. About 11.4 million adult Americans suffered from severe mental illness in the past year and 8.7 million adults contemplated serious thoughts of suicide. Among them, more than 2 million made suicide plans and about 1 million attempted suicide.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, were partners for years at a Washington law firm that represented a Who’s Who of big banks and other companies at the center of alleged foreclosure fraud, a Reuters inquiry shows. The firm, Covington & Burling, is one of Washington’s biggest white shoe law firms. Law professors and other federal ethics experts said that federal conflict of interest rules required Holder and Breuer to recuse themselves from any Justice Department decisions relating to law firm clients they personally had done work for.

Pictures of the latest objects seized by the police in the Mexican state of Michoacan, revealed that the mysterious ‘Knights Templar” drug cartel is more bizarre than most people imagine.There were four hooded tunics, with a red cross, a metal helmet, and a pamphlet or Templar rule book. This drug cartel claims to draw inspiration from the medieval Christian warriors who fought to protect Jerusalem and the Holy Grail.

No one knows if its founder, Servando Gomez, a school teacher, was a history entuthiast or simply read the Da Vinci Code.

The rules in the modern day ‘templar bible’ call for observance of ‘gentleman’ like behaviour and respect for women – but also state that any disclosure of knights templar activities will result in the death of the person and his whole family, and confiscation by the cartel of the snitch’s property.

I’m no statistics whiz, but it seems to me that a Chinese billionaire dies every 40 days.China Daily reported Friday that unnatural deaths have taken the lives of 72 mainland billionaires over the past eight years. (Do the math.)

Which means that if you’re one of China’s 115 current billionaires, as listed on the 2011 Forbes Billionaires List, you should be more than a little nervous.

Mortality rate notwithstanding, what’s more disturbing is how these mega wealthy souls met their demise. According to China Daily, 15 were murdered, 17 committed suicide, seven died from accidents and 19 died from illness. Oh, yes, and 14 were executed. (Welcome to China.)

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters now view most members of Congress as corrupt. That’s up seven points from June and the highest finding yet recorded. Just 29% think most members are not corrupt, and another 25% are not sure.

the legal implications of the word fuck. The intersection of the word fuck and the law is examined in four major areas: First Amendment, broadcast regulation, sexual harassment, and education. The legal implications from the use of fuck vary greatly with the context. To fully understand the legal power of fuck, the nonlegal sources of its power are tapped. Drawing upon the research of etymologists, linguists, lexicographers, psychoanalysts, and other social scientists, the visceral reaction to fuck can be explained by cultural taboo. Fuck is a taboo word. The taboo is so strong that it compels many to engage in self-censorship. This process of silence then enables small segments of the population to manipulate our rights under the guise of reflecting a greater community. Taboo is then institutionalized through law, yet at the same time is in tension with other identifiable legal rights. Understanding this relationship between law and taboo ultimately yields fuck jurisprudence.

But as the Minnesota resident crossed into Canada, she was stopped and searched by Canadian border guards, Winnipeg-based lawyer Scott Newman told CTV.ca by phone Tuesday.”She was pulled over by a border officer for secondary inspection. They searched her vehicle and they found a canning jar in the back.”

The jar in question contained motor oil left from a recent oil change, but Newman said that a border field test apparently showed traces of heroin.

“For whatever reason, the tests indicated that there was something present when there wasn’t,” he said. “And on the basis of this faulty test, the RCMP was called and she was detained.”

Initially, Goodin was charged with trafficking heroin, possession of heroin with the purpose of trafficking and importation of heroin, Newman said.

But after a thorough RCMP test showed that no narcotics were present, the Crown dropped the charges. But not before Goodin spent 12 days in jail.

This is certainly a bottle of wine to save for a very special occasion.The precious bottle of 1811 Château d’Yquem today became the world’s most valuable bottle of white wine, after it was sold for £75,000.

Researchers at U.C. Berkeley have discovered that some of the net’s most popular sites are using a tracking service that can’t be evaded — even when users block cookies, turn off storage in Flash, or use browsers’ “incognito” functions.The service, called KISSmetrics, is used by sites to track the number of visitors, what the visitors do on the site, and where they come to the site from — and the company says it does a more comprehensive job than its competitors such as Google Analytics.

Libyan rebels say the gunmen who shot dead their military chief were militiamen allied in their struggle to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, raising questions about divisions and lawlessness within rebel ranks.

Police say a witness saw Horton drop her children off at the play area at the McDonald’s at 5950 Highway 94 and enter the restroom. When Horton emerged from the restroom, the witness said she was incoherent and stumbling.”(The witness) went into the bathroom and observed two capsules,” said Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department. “When we got there she was preparing to leave and made statements she had taken two children to St. Louis to purchase heroin and when she stopped at McDonald’s, she dropped her children off at the play area and went to the bathroom and snorted heroin.”

A new study by a team of researchers in California shows it is possible to vaccinate laboratory animals against the effects of heroin.The vaccine not only blunted the pain-killing action of heroin, but it also prevented rats from becoming addicted to the drug. Significantly, however, it didn’t keep the animals from gaining pain relief from many other opiates, suggesting the vaccine targets just heroin and a few related compounds.

EVOL’s amazing building stencils in the unlikeliest of places.

Frank Javier Cardona, 33, was taken into custody after a 45-minute standoff at the house in the 1200 block of King Street, police said.About 10 p.m., officers who were searching the house discovered 76 pounds of black-tar heroin packaged for sale, said San Bernardino police spokeswoman Lt. Gwendolyn Waters. Narcotics investigators estimated the street value at $3 million.

Louise Mensch, a British politician who recently questioned Rupert Murdoch in parliament about the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, has publicly responded to accusations that were—entirely coincidentally of course—sent to her by journalists three days later on July 22. The mysterious “Dave Jones Investigative Journalists” emailed the 40-year-old Conservative Member of Parliament a series of allegations. Top of the list was that she took drugs with the unconventional violinist Nigel Kennedy—a regular cannabis user—at a club in Birmingham in the 1990s, before “dancing on the dance floor, whilst drunk, with Mr Kennedy, in front of journalists.” The missive menacingly added, “Photos of this exist.” Mensch replied: “Although I do not remember the specific incident, this sounds highly probable… since I was in my twenties, I’m sure it was not the only incident of the kind.” She apologized for being “not a very good dancer.”

“He side swiped a vehicle that was legally parked on the side of the roadway,” said Sgt. Jerry Goodin, ISP. “After striking that vehicle, he went on and struck a tree.”It didn’t take long for investigators to suspect alcohol was involved.

“He was sitting on the wall out of the vehicle, holding his head,” said Mrs. Robbins. But that wasn’t the only thing that stood out to the Robbins, it was the trailer Newcomb was pulling.

“It said DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and Seymour Police Department- which made me think he was a police officer,” said Mr. Robbins.

Not only a police officer, but according to the Seymour Police Department website, he is the School Resource Officer, responsible for seven schools, acting as a mentor and providing students with a role model. It even states that he conducts lectures on narcotics and alcohol and their effects on driving.

“He’s not setting a good example for kids that see this,” said Mr. Robbins.

Dead rubber baby not included

☛ Xbox addict ‘dies from blood clot’

The family of a budding computer programmer have on Saturday launched a campaign to raise awareness about the health risks of playing online computer games after their son died following a marathon session on his Xbox.A post-mortem revealed that 20-year-old Chris Staniforth — who was offered a place to study Game Design at Leicester University — was killed by a pulmonary embolism, which can occur if someone sits in the same position for several hours.

Deep vein thrombosis normally affects passengers on long-haul flights, but medical experts fear youngsters who spend hours glued to their consoles might also be at risk and have urged them to take regular breaks.

Professor Brian Colvin — an expert on blood-related conditions — said it was “unhealthy” for youngsters to spend long periods in front of their consoles.

As Jonathan was being escorted from the plane by the flight attendant and pilot, his 29-year-old brother Luis, who was also on the flight, decided to disembark as well. Luis then threatened the pilot, reportedly saying, “When you fly to San Juan, I will have you killed.” The brothers are from Las Piedras, Puerto Rico.The pilot stayed behind as both men were escorted off the plane, but Jonathan returned, striking the pilot in the face with his fist. Another flight attendant tried to intervene, but was hit in the shoulder. Then, both men began beating the pilot with their fists, striking his chest and chasing him into the terminal where they continued to assault him.

It looks like this Soulja Boy report just isn’t flying.In honor of his birthday, Soulja Boy was said to have dug $55 million deep in his pockets for a new private jet. This is according to a member of his management team who spoke to TMZ.

The “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” and “Turn My Swag On” rapper, born DeAndre Cortez Way, who turned 21 on Thursday, reportedly spent $35 million on the actual Gulfstream G5 jet and is dropping another $20 million on upgrades.

☛ Pregnant Smoking :: Pregnant Smoking Fetish

The hottest pregnant smoking women live on web cam, plus free pregnant smokers chat room to meet with hot pregnant smokers and their admires. Below you will find a hot bunch of pregnant smoking cam girls ready to chat with you 100% free all these girls are online now and would love to smoke for you.

The FAA is set to expire in 2012, but, as we’ve seen with any law that grants the federal government more power to spy on Americans without oversight, there is no way the folks in power want to give up such things. Now come reports that, while most of Congress is focused on that whole debt ceiling thing, some have decided this is the perfect cover to quickly and secretly re-up the FAA. It’s been reported that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is likely meeting behind closed doors today in an effort (by some) to re-up the FAA now, before anyone even realizes it’s being debated. The last thing they want is pesky civil libertarians to re-start the discussion about the general constitutionality of spying on Americans without a warrant (believing in the 4th Amendment is sooooo old fashioned).

☛ Bush explains slow reaction to September 11 attacks

Former President George W. Bush says his apparent lack of reaction to the first news of the September 11 2001 attacks was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis.In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Bush reflects on what was going through his mind at the most dramatic moment of his presidency when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York’s World Trade Center.

Bush was visiting a Florida classroom and the incident, which was caught on TV film, and has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently blank face.

Art made of used lottery scratch-off tickets

This clever table lamp design by Luca Veneri offers an interesting,thought-provoking, and somewhat eerie way of lighting up a room. The mushroom cloud shape, that seems to expand before your eyes, was created using real fluid dynamic simulations to capture the cloud’s true form as closely as possible. An articulate design that is sure to attract a second glance as it builds a powerful symbolic connection with the viewer.

Mmkay

Prior to 9/11, the Taliban government in Afghanistan did not register very much on American radar screens, with one notable exception: when it blew up two colossal images of the Buddha in Bamiyan province in early 2001. But destruction of treasured artifacts isn’t just limited to the Taliban.There’s a right-wing politico-religious presence centred in the US, but with a global reach, engaging in similar practises, destroying religious and cultural artifacts as a key aspect of its ideology of “strategic level spiritual warfare” (SLSW).

Until recently a fringe evangelical movement, warned against as deviant, “spiritual warfare” is rapidly positioning itself within America’s mainstream political right. It’s well past time for political journalists to start covering what this movement is up to.

Journalist, entrepreneur and Russia Today opinion host Max Keiser traveled to Greece recently for a film project that looks at how the country came to be on the verge of default.The conclusion of his interview subjects, and indeed a large portion of the Greek population, is that Goldman Sachs, perhaps the most powerful financial firm in the world, has engaged in an economic coup against the nation, taking advantage of rife tax fraud to force Greek lawmakers to hand over the country’s public assets.

His mini-documentary is concise, smart and informative. Take 20 minutes to learn what happened there, before it starts happening in the U.S.

“I thought, ‘My God what is it?’ It’s like nothing we have ever seen – it almost looks prehistoric.”

The couple, who were walking their dogs at Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, called coastguards to investigate.

BHOPAL: This real life incident has the making of a scene from some vampire movie. A 22-year-old woman in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh has told the police that her husband drank her blood for the past three years. “He used to take a syringe and draw blood from my arms,” Deepa Ahirwar said. “He would then empty it in a glass and drink it. For three years he did this on a regular basis, threatening me of dire consequences if I revealed this to anyone.”

According to the lawsuit, Dr. Anthony Pickett performed the circumcision on the boy, now 8, at the Maternity Center of Vermont on Jan. 3, 2003. Pickett used a Miltex Mogen clamp that removed 85 percent of the top of the boy’s penis, according to the suit.

“Because of the defective design of the circumcision clamp, there was no protection for the head of the penis and Dr. Pickett was unable to visualize the (head) when excising the foreskin,” according to the plaintiffs’ court papers filed regarding the settlement. “For this reason, an amputation to the (head) of plaintiff’s penis occurred.”

Owning yeast and sugar isn’t enough to get you arrested in most places. But in some communities of rural Alaska, the high rate of alcohol abuse has caused voters to ban booze along with possession of the supplies to make it at home.

A recent case highlights a 2007 state law that makes it illegal for a person to possess yeast and sugar in a local option community if they intend to use the ingredients to make home-brew, a cloudy, intoxicating liquid often mixed with fruit juice. Villages have the option to ban booze as one way to combat to a longstanding epidemic of alcohol-related injuries and deaths in rural Alaska.

► Japanese rocker dies in jail after plane incident

A Japanese rock musician who tried to hang himself after being arrested for unruly behaviour on a flight to the Mariana Islands has died in hospital, reports say.

Rocker Taiji Sawada, who was best known as the former bass player with heavy metal group “X”, died yesterday when medics at Saipan’s Commonwealth Health Centre turned off his life support, the Saipan Tribune reported.

The Marianas Variety newspaper reported that Sawada, 45, had been in intensive care since July 14 after he tried to hang himself with a bedsheet in a jail in the US-administered Pacific territory.

He had been arrested three days before for allegedly assaulting a female cabin crew attendant during a Delta Airlines flight from Tokyo to Saipan, court documents showed.

After 15 years of market growth…[dealers] were finding it harder to sell drugs, as pay cuts, tax rises and job losses left recreational users with less money. The Irish gangs were unable to shift larger hauls and, in any case, lacked the resources to buy in bulk, so they were ordering smaller quantities. This liquidity crisis was an unfamiliar problem for criminals used to having a river of money at their disposal.

User arrests are down by 20% in recent years and the value of drugs seized—used as a proxy for market size—has hit 15-year lows. This demand elasticity is evident in both hard and soft drug markets: the value of cocaine seized last year is less than half that of previous years, marijuana’s a tenth of its 2006 peak. Even heroin junkies have economised; the value of seized heroin has fallen more than 85% since 2008.

Eight illegal immigrants from Mexico were arrested on drug trafficking charges after federal and Las Vegas law enforcement officials seized 212 pounds of drugs worth an estimated street value of $5.7 million in the largest methamphetamine bust in Nevada history, authorities announced Thursday.

Police also seized $280,000 in cash, six guns and nine vehicles used for drug trafficking after searching nine residential properties in Las Vegas and Henderson on Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials heralded the record bust as a significant blow to Las Vegas’ illegal underground that would be felt by every player, including drug bosses, small-time dealers and users hoping to score on the street. The raid yielded four pounds of heroin and 208 pounds of methamphetamine in varying stages of processing, from its liquid form to the crystal-like pieces sold on the street in small quantities for consumption.

► Nevada Test Site: Tourists revisit the Cold War at Nevada Test Site

There was a time when a mushroom cloud billowing over the Nevada desert was celebrated as a symbol of American strength — and, about 75 miles southeast in Las Vegas, as a terrific tourist draw.

In the 1950s, casinos threw “dawn parties,” where gamblers caroused until a flash signaled the explosion of an atomic bomb at the Nevada Test Site. Tourism boosters promoted the Atomic Cocktail (vodka, brandy, champagne and a dash of sherry) and pinups such as Miss Atomic Blast, who was said to radiate “loveliness instead of deadly atomic particles.”

Sixty years after the first atmospheric tests here, the 1,375-square-mile site continues to be a tourist magnet, though of a far different nature. Thousands of people each year sign up months in advance to see what is essentially a radioactive ghost town.

If your heritage is non-African, you are part Neanderthal, according to a new study in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution. Discovery News has been reporting on human/Neanderthal interbreeding for some time now, so this latest research confirms earlier findings.

Damian Labuda of the University of Montreal’s Department of Pediatrics and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center conducted the study with his colleagues. They determined some of the human X chromosome originates from Neanderthals, but only in people of non-African heritage.

“This confirms recent findings suggesting that the two populations interbred,” Labuda was quoted as saying in a press release. His team believes most, if not all, of the interbreeding took place in the Middle East, while modern humans were migrating out of Africa and spreading to other regions.

Some close to Bachmann fear she won’t be equal to the stress of the campaign, much less the presidency itself.

“When she gets ‘em, frankly, she can’t function at all. It’s not like a little thing with a couple Advils. It’s bad,” the adviser says. “The migraines are so bad and so intense, she carries and takes all sorts of pills. Prevention pills. Pills during the migraine. Pills after the migraine, to keep them under control. She has to take these pills wherever she goes.”

To staff, Bachmann has implausibly blamed the headaches on uncomfortable high-heel shoes, but those who have worked closely with her cite stress, a busy schedule and anything going badly for Bachmann as causes.

► Change of heart – Former Nazi teeny boppers Prussian Blue are singing a new tune

“I have to say, marijuana saved my life,” Lynx told me. “I would probably be dead if I didn’t have it.” She discovered pot while recovering from her cancer treatments. She’d been prescribed morphine and OxyContin, which she quit cold turkey. One day when she was having a bout of nausea, a friend offered her a toke. She was reluctant at first. The girls’ biological father had been “a druggie” when they were young, Lynx said.

But the drug worked wonders, and soon Lynx became one of the first five minors to get a medical marijuana card in Montana. Now Lamb has one, too.

Pot has also helped the twins rekindle the creative impulses they once channeled into their music. They’ve both taken up painting — astrological themes, mostly — and Lynx restores furniture. They hope to enroll in college, and intend to dedicate themselves to making medical marijuana legal in all 50 states.

Heartbroken Mr Gannon, who married Patrice in Jamaica early this year, believes his new wife fled to Bristol to meet a Jamaican boyfriend with whom she had organised the scheme.

Yesterday, historian and author Barry H. Landau was arrested on charges of stealing historical documents, including ones signed by Abraham Lincoln, from the Maryland Historical Society. The arrest eventually led to Landau’s locker, where police found upwards of 60 documents worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Laudau’s heist and the tremendous value of the stolen documents got us thinking about the other end of the literature theft spectrum: what are the most frequently stolen books from bookstores?

The results are surprisingly consistent–the same books and authors keep getting stolen across the country, so much so that many of them are frequently shelved behind the counter. Here are 5 of the most frequently stolen books, with sources listed below.

The main ingredients are melatonin, a hormone that is intended to induce drowsiness; L-theanine, an amino acid primarily found in green tea; GABA, a chemical that calms the mind; B vitamins, and chamomile — a plant that often winds up as tea that people drink to help them unwind.

Rupert Murdoch, the Chairman and CEO of News Corporation, was the target of “a white foam pie” attack on Tuesday as he was testifying before a British Parliament committee about the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

Apparently, the white boy was in the wrong country. Treat the non-whites in white countries like kings and queens but don’t receive the same treatment in their country, a bit funny, isn’t it? The poor little kid… If I knew who he was, I would raise him, I’m still not sure if he’s dead or alive, such a poor kid… another kid bites the dust from non-whites action as always. He is white, why does people get upset when I mention the word WHITE? This is life, accept it. The Chinese people are saying “white boy, go home, go away”.

After inhaling a mall-bought batch of “Iaroma”—a synthetic pot substitute sold as ‘incense’—a 19-year-old Chicago boy dies after taking a 100 mph joyride into a neighbor’s house.

Baphomet is an enigmatic, goat-headed figure found in several instance in the history of occultism. From the Knights Templar of the Middle-Ages and the Freemasons of the 19th century to modern currents of occultism, Baphomet never fails to create controversy. But where does Baphomet originate from and, most importantly, what is the true meaning of this symbolic figure? This article looks at the origins of Baphomet, the esoteric meaning of Baphomet and its occurrence in popular culture.

A loaded rifle was recovered from the scene as was more gunpowder and 300 feet of detonation cord found in an open safe, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Amid news that troubled rap veteran Earl “DMX” Simmons had allegedly been caught smuggling contraband into prison thus extending his sentence, a spokesperson from the Arizona Department of Corrections has decried the erroneous reports that the rapper committed the said offense.

Barrett Marson, the media contact that dismissed the reports, gave a quote to website Rumorfix stating, “He did not smuggle drugs into prison. He failed a drug test, I don’t know what drugs he took, but that’s it. He was due to be released today but will now be released on July 19th.” Prison records show that DMX was not exactly a model prisoner with several disciplinary write-ups including drug test failure, disorderly conduct and possession of drugs.

► Driver investigated after 17 pounds of pot found

Mota went to speak with the driver, who said he was there to deal with the lack of a license plate. Mota smelled marijuana inside the vehicle, he said.

Officers found the 17 pounds in large plastic containers and called county narcotics officers to investigate.

The driver indicated he had paperwork for possessing medical marijuana but 17 pounds is well over allowable limits, Mota said.

Mortgage industry employees are still signing documents they haven’t read and using fake signatures more than eight months after big banks and mortgage companies promised to stop the illegal practices that led to a nationwide halt of home foreclosures.

County officials in at least three states say they have received thousands of mortgage documents with questionable signatures since last fall, suggesting that the practices, known collectively as “robo-signing,” remain widespread in the industry.

The Army refuses to release information on its investigation into whether a three-star general conducted psychological operations on members of Congress during their visits to Afghanistan, according to the two Army information operations officers at the center of the controversy. Michael Holmes, the officer who says he refused orders to conduct Psy-Ops on American officials, and Laurel Levine filed a federal FOIA complaint, saying the Army and the U.S. Army Central Command refused to release the records. Holmes and Levine says the Army investigation “also covered allegations of whistleblower retaliation conducted against the plaintiffs for challenging unlawful orders.”

Bad hoodoo from the Jessamine County Fair. Dark times. A champion laid low. On Wednesday, David L. Warner Jr., of Nicholasville, Ky., drove a beaut of a derby in the ultra-competitive small car class. Warner demolished many things on his way to the title. But instead of getting to enjoy his victory, Warner got busted for DUI. The champion had allegedly been pounding Bud Lights before the derby, according to a whole bunch of dirty snitches who ratted him out to the cops.

Human rights lawyers are seeking an arrest warrant against a former CIA legal director who allegedly approved drone attacks in Pakistan that killed hundreds. It’s claimed John Rizzo agreed on a list of people to be targeted by drone strikes – a practice which started in 2004 under the Bush administration. For more on this RT joined by Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer.

Julia Sullivan wants to be a cheerleader.

She likes to dance. She wants to get people excited for games. She has friends on the cheerleading squad.

“I just think it would be fun,” the 16-year-old said.

So she’s practiced. Her older sister, a former cheerleader, helped her figure out ways she could cheer from her wheelchair. Julia, who’ll be a junior at Aurora High School this fall, was born without legs and with arms that stop short of her elbows.

This spring, for the third time, she tried out to be a cheerleader. For the third time, she didn’t made the squad.

Last month, she and her parents, Mike and Carolyn Sullivan, asked the Aurora school board to correct what they see as “scoring errors” in her tryout evaluations this spring, saying she was given no accommodation for her disability.

Their attorney cited the Americans With Disabilities Act and other federal laws that prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities.

On June 1, the Taliban raided the Taliban crossed the border from Afghanistan and raided the Shaltalu area of the district of Dir in northwestern Pakistan. This video shows the execution of more than a dozen Pakistani policemen who were captured during the fighting. The Taliban leader gives a speech prior to executing the Pakistani men:

“These are the enemies of Islam who originated from Pakistan. They are the Pakistani police, soldiers and their supporters who recently lined up six kids in Swat and shot them execution style. These Pakistanis are now our captive and we will avenge the death of the children by doing the same to them.”

There has been speculation for months now that the House Republicans’ transportation bill proposal would be terrible for transit, biking, and walking. And sure enough, John Mica didn’t disappoint.

The chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday released a six-year reauthorization proposal that would slash overall transportation funding 33 percent and eliminate dedicated funds for biking and walking.

That then gave them access across large parts of the News International network, possibly including the archived emails, and to the Sun’s “content management system” (CMS) – which formats news onto pages. That will have included the code for the “breaking news” element of the Sun’s main webpage; changing the entire content on the page would be too obvious.

By including a line of Javascript in the “breaking news” element, the hackers were able to ensure that anyone visiting the Sun’s home page would, as the ticker was automatically refreshed, they would be redirected to anywhere that the hackers chose.

Initially they made it redirect to a fake page they had created at new-times.co.uk/sun which attempted to look and read like a Sun story claiming that Rupert Murdoch had been found dead. That page used a template of another story that first appeared on 14 July, suggesting that the hackers either grabbed an archived story or have had access since then.